Instagram’s insidious ways to trap you in reels
I have to preface this blog with an admission of guilt, my opinions and takes on social media are formed because I was an intense social media user. I once heard someone say it is always the person who indulges in a thing that then tries to warn people off it.
So, yes, I was an addict. I had and used everything. My personality was fragmented and personalities split to accommodate an algorithm and people I did not know nor care about, but digital proximity to each other makes interactions seem more meaningful than they are, and so we care. We care about the strangers’ discussions on X, we care about the old classmate reacting to photos on Instagram. It feels like because we all share the same cyberspace, being ignored is a deliberate, even malicious choice by others. That is how it is designed to feel.
I would prefer to do away with all social media, but for particular reasons I need some for business, some for contact, especially because I live abroad. The best thing you can do is consider the necessary and the negligible, or choose low stimulation alternatives to popular services.
With regard to Meta, their most insidious product today is Instagram. While in the past “Facebook addiction” was certainly a thing, it is the Instagram reel that has mass-lobotomised people across the globe. Using Instagram by default is an overstimulating experience, the app is bloated to the extreme with functions and features, notes, stories, instants – but it is the reel, which is the most dangerous snare. On Instagram there are six different ways to end up scrolling the reels “For You” feed, the design of the app is to make you scroll not even on the timeline anymore but on reels.
I find it funny to write about this, we all have learned the functions of these apps like we learn the functions of an engine, or the rules of a game, but we never talk about it. We never sit and talk with anyone about USING social media because it boring topic to discuss, but I find it illuminating to unpack how much I do know from daily use.
What is the way out? My decision to change my behaviour on this app in particular came after finding in the settings a watch history for reels. This precisely visualises just how many reels one can sift through in even a minute, and of course, most are forgotten. Upon seeing these I vowed to avoid reels entirely, I am determined to have my watch history empty. This is as simple as not scrolling. If I do open one I will close it with immediate effect.
After a week of doing this, my behaviour is already changing. I don’t scroll reels, at all. I receive them from friends, but the endless search for the next is over. I hold myself accountable for time spent scrolling, and the visual reminder of just how much content I have consumed is enough to put the fear in me to never be a doomscroller, as long as I can help it.